"When the whole world tells you you're silly for wanting the things you want, you start to believe them. You start to think you're not worth it. That if the things you're waiting for do exist, they're not for someone like you." She sighs, a small, hopeless sound that twists through my headphones. "But what's wrong with being a romantic? I can be a confident,
independent woman and still want someone to hold my hand. To ask about my day […]"

"How do you do it?" I choke out. "How do you love her when you're scared?"
My dad laughs, a gruff, thick sound. "It was never a choice, Aiden. I was always going to love your mom. And I would never have chosen different, even with everything we've endured together. It makes it better, doesn't it? To know how temporary it all is. To know how special. Love isn't" – he sighs, a deep, rumbling sound – "love isn't always sunshine and daisies. Sometimes it's hospital beds and shaved heads. But I wouldn't trade any of it. Because all of it is with her."